“Let’s pretend that…”: roles, stories and imaginary worlds in Play Therapy
When a child becomes the director of their own scene: why changing roles matters so much, and how play leads to psychodrama.
“You be the teacher and I’ll be the child.”
“This one is the bad guy.”
“The doll is scared and hides here.”
In a few minutes a child can create a whole world.
In symbolic play roles change, characters take on personalities, and things that seem impossible in real life can suddenly happen.
And this possibility of “let’s pretend that…” is of particular psychological interest.
When the child becomes the director
Within play the child can decide who is strong and who is weak, who leaves and who returns, who protects, who is afraid and — above all — how the story ends.
As early as 1929 Melanie Klein described personification in child play: the tendency of children to create characters and give them different roles, qualities and feelings.
One character can become angry.
Another frightened.
Another all-powerful.
In this way a child can “distribute” different sides of a story across different figures and observe them within the safety of play.
Why does changing roles matter?
In real life a child does not always have control over what happens.
In play, though, they can become the author of the story.
They can play the strong one while feeling weak.
They can become the parent.
They can make the monster small.
They can save a character who previously could not be saved.
That does not mean every such scenario is a direct representation of a real event.
Play is a far more complex mixture of real experiences, imagination, fears, wishes and creativity.
That is precisely why a therapist does not look for a quick “translation” of the play. They observe how the story develops and accompany the child inside it.
From individual play to psychodrama
The power of roles took on particular significance in the French psychoanalytic tradition as well.
After the Second World War, figures such as René Diatkine, Serge Lebovici and Évelyne and Jean Kestemberg contributed to the development of analytic psychodrama in France.
Here the story is not represented only with toys or figures.
It can be acted.
The person proposes a scene and different people take on the roles of the characters. A space is created in which feelings, relationships and conflicts can take form through action.
The French tradition describes this process through the idea of “faire semblant pour de vrai” — pretending within the play, while the feelings that surface can be entirely real.
A story can be given a different ending
This is perhaps one of the most interesting features of symbolic play.
The story is not fixed.
It can be played again.
A character can react differently.
An ending can change.
A figure who was alone may this time find someone.
The child does not change the real event. What they gain is a space in which they can experiment with different positions, feelings and possibilities.
And so a seemingly simple:
“Let’s pretend that…”
can open a whole world of psychological processing and creativity.
Sources & references (11)
- Klein, M. (1929). Personification in the Play of Children. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, 10, 193–204.
- Klein, M. (1932). The Psycho-Analysis of Children. Hogarth Press / Institute of Psycho-Analysis.
- Klein, M. (1955). The Psychoanalytic Play Technique: Its History and Significance. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 25, 223–237.
- Winnicott, D. W. (1971). Playing and Reality. Tavistock Publications.
- Diatkine, R. (1986). Les jeux et les âges. Les textes du Centre Alfred Binet.
- Lebovici, S., Diatkine, R., & Kestemberg, E. (1958). Works on analytic psychodrama and psychotherapeutic work with children and adolescents.
- Wainrib, S. (2003). L’efficacité symbolique de la psychanalyse. L’apport de la psychanalyse et du psychodrame d’enfants et d’adolescents. Société Psychanalytique de Paris.
- Société Psychanalytique de Paris. Le psychodrame analytique.
- Société Psychanalytique de Paris. Psychodrame d’enfants : chemin possible vers une métamorphose.
- Société Psychanalytique de Paris. La psychanalyse des enfants.
- Koukourikos, K., Tzeha, L., Pantelidou, P., & Tsaloglidou, A. (2021). An Overview of Play Therapy. Materia Socio-Medica, 33(4), 293–297.
This text is informational and psychoeducational. It is not a diagnosis and does not replace a session with a mental health professional.